Russia does not give up its claims to quality of US beef

February 27, 2013, 16:19 UTC+3"There is no constructive dialogue on this problem with the U.S. side" the spokesman said

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MOSCOW, February 27 (Itar-Tass) - Russia does not intend to give up its claims to the quality of U.S. meat products, in particular, to the ractopamine concentration, spokesman for the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision Alexei Alekseyenko told Itar-Tass. "This is a matter of security, and no compromise is possible here", the spokesman stressed.

"A clause in the International Food Standards, which permits a ractopamine residue in meat, and to which the U.S. authorities refer in their explanations, was adopted with severe violations. For the first time ever such a serious problem of food safety was decided by mere voting, with Russia, the European Union, China and a number of other countries voting against," Alekseyenko said. "Only the United States and countries which depend on the U.S. economically, voted for the clause," he added.

Ractopamine is banned in 160 world countries, while 26 countries only allow to use it in food, Alekseyenko said. Scientific research has proved that ractopamine might trigger a serious malfunctioning of a human organism; it stimulates the beta effect of adrenaline on a human heart, while in Russia people who have heart problems take drugs which produce quite the opposite effect, the spokesman said.

"There is no constructive dialogue on this problem with the U.S. side" the spokesman said.

The apparatus of the U.S. representative at trade talks with Russia insists that Russia should comply with the international standard of ractopamine concentration in beef and pork. The U.S. side made it clear that it did not intend to comply with Russia's requirements or give any guarantees of veterinary safety of the meat exported to Russia.

On February 4 the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision banned imports of U.S. meat. On February 11 Russia also imposed a similar ban on imports of U.S. frozen meat products in connection with the hazardous concentration of ractopamine used in cattle breeding to stimulate cattle body growth.